101 Dalmatians has charmed audiences for generations with its irresistible tail-wagging stars, memorable music, and a wonderful blend of fantasy, humor, and adventure. Now, with spectacular new bonus features and brilliantly restored, Walt Disney s beloved animated classic shines like never before in an all-new 2-disc Platinum Edition.
Cruella De Vil, Disney s most outrageous villain, sets the fur-raising adventure in motion when she dognaps all of Pongo and Perdita s puppies. Through the power of the Twilight Bark, Pongo leads a heroic cast of animal characters on a quest across London to rescue them.
Bring home the exciting 2-disc Platinum Edition with something for everyone, including the all-new virtual Dalmatians game, over 101 pop-up trivia facts, an all-new music video and much more!Back in 1961, Walt Disney got a little hip with 101 Dalmatians, making use of that flat Saturday morning cartoon style that had become so popular. The result is a kitschy change in animation and story. Pongo and Perdita are two lonely dalmatians who meet cute in a London park and arrange for their pet humans to marry so they can live together and raise a family. They become proud parents of 15 pups, who are stolen by the dastardly Cruella De Vil, who wants to make a fur coat out of them. Cruella has become the most popular villain in all of Disney; she’s flamboyantly nasty and lots of fun. But it’s the dalmatians who shine in this endearing classic, particularly those precocious pups. Telling the story from the dogs’ point of view is a clever conceit, a fundamental flaw of the live-action remake. –Bill Desowitz
On the DVD
This two-disc platinum edition features great sound and incredibly bright, intense colors thanks to the restoration process, but its most impressive selling point is the huge assortment of bonus features designed to delight children, families, and the most serious Disney fans. Kids will have fun caring for their very own puppy in the virtual Dalmatian game for television or on DVD ROM and can find out just what kind of puppy they’re most like and which human Disney character they’re most compatible with in the puppy profiler game. The fun with language game is geared toward the very young preschooler and teaches numbers and the names of common household items. A modern Selena Gomez music video of “Cruella DeVil” will appeal to tweens and teens. The whole family will enjoy the “101 Pop Up Facts For Families” option which prints various movie facts like the name and author of the original book and how specific scenes differ between the book and the movie right on the screen during the movie and Disney fans will love the similar “101 Pop Up Facts For Fans” feature which supplies a wide variety of film trivia about featured voice talents, famous Disney animators that worked on the film, technical devices employed like multi-pane shots and the Xerox process, and which artists directed specific scenes in the movie. Eleven separate Backstage Disney featurettes interview a host of animators, writers, historians, producers, and story men regarding the film’s contemporary feel and the groundbreaking technical processes like the then-new Xerox process utilized in making 101 Dalmatians. Also highlighted is Bill Pete’s amazing storytelling contribution to the film, the technical and mechanical innovations of Ub Iwerks, the songwriting process, and the animation prowess of famous Disney animators like Woolie Reitherman, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Milt Kahl, Marc Davis, Ken Anderson, and Walt Peregoy. The 12-minute dramatization of the longstanding correspondence between author Dodie Smith and Walt Disney is intriguing and the trailers and radio and television spots provide fun historical reference for the film and its various releases. Finally, the “Music and More” feature presents a variety of deleted and abandoned songs as well as many alternate versions and takes of songs used in the final film. –Tami Horiuchi
Stills from 101 Dalmatians (click for larger image)
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Buy “101 Dalmatians “ For Only $14.58
February 9, 2006
#1
There’s something about this film that bores me out of my mind. Nothing really happens in it, the whole story is about a bunch of dogs running back and forth trying to get home by avoiding the maniac Cruella DeVil, who wants to skin the 99 dalmatian puppies to make fur coats, a disturbing thought that sickens you through-out the entire movie. Neither the “heroes” nor the villains develop much personality during the movie so it’s hard to care for any of the characters. The animation looks pretty good, but the backgrounds are the worst Disney has ever done, they are cheap one-color backgrounds which seem to come from that “Rhapsody in Blue” segment from Fantasia 2000. The story has a happy ending and thank goodness we don’t have to hear about any of the puppies getting killed. The film features pretty good and creative gags like the “Twilight Bark” which was pretty amusing, but other than that, a pretty weak film, I’ll never understand why Disney insists on making so many different versions of it.
If your kids understand what the character of Cruella DeVil wants to do with the puppies than I don’t think they would want to watch this film, as I have said, it has a pretty disturbing thought in your head while you watch it. Skip it unless you are a Disney fanatic.
February 9, 2006
#2
People may think that 101 Dalmatians is a good choice for children’s entertainment but I warn you, this is certainly not. For instance, there is way too much smoking here, which is something that never bothers me when it is only the villains smoking, but one of the “heroes,” Roger is seen smoking way too much. Also, there’s a weird and sort of disturbing atmostphere surrounding the film, an evil woman wants to skin a bunch of innocent puppies. Of course you know that Disney would never let something like that happen, so from the beginning of the film, you know how the story ends, which makes the film not very amusing for adults and a bit too disturbing for children. Please, view it yourself first before you let the little ones watch it. There’s a lot of drinking, smoking and cruel words in this film. It’s interesting that children usually like to imitate the villains, because Disney usually makes them the cool ones, and believe me, Cruella DeVil isn’t a character you want your kids imitating. Skip this one, more suitable children’s entertainment are films like Dumbo, Cinderella, The Rescuers or Mary Poppins.
February 9, 2006
#3
No sale. With all the technical tweaks available today it’s a pity we have to deal with 1.33:1 AR videos. That element alone makes this DVD a ‘no purchase’ for my collection…
February 9, 2006
#4
IT IS GOING ON TWO MONTHS SINCE I PLACED MY ORDER AND HAVE NOT RECEIVED IT OR ANY NOTIFICATION REGARDING THE SHIPPING OF IT. I HAVE MADE TWO WRITTEN ATTEMPTS TO CONTACT THE SELLER AND HAVE HAD NO RESPONSE. I HAVE NOT BEEN ISSUED A CREDIT FOR MY PAYMENT WHICH WAS SENT IMMEDIATELY FROM MY ACCOUNT WHEN THE ORDER WAS PLACED. I HAVE READ THE OTHER COMMENTS AND IF I HAD SEEN THEM I WOULD NOT HAVE PLACE THIS ORDER.
February 9, 2006
#5
Well DVD shipped perfectly, and was what it said it would be. It said it was previously owned, but still it was in good condition. There was no wrapper around it, and there was only a one page cardboad insert on the left side.